Leaders Index 7-16-18

The market put in a slightly negative session today. The major averages opened a bit lower and traded under water most of the day. The Nasd averages were the weakest with the COMPQ lower by .26% and the NDX declined .24% The SPX was lower by only .10%. The Nasd averages finished near their lows of the day while the New York averages closed in about the middle of their trading ranges. Volume was higher on the New York, but the declines in those averages were too small to qualify as distribution. The volume on the Nasd was very close. IBD has it slightly higher, which produced a fresh distribution day on the Nasd averages. Leading stocks were slightly lower as well with the leaders index declining .42% and closing in about the middle of its trading range. The index tagged the short term 9dma moving average but closed above it. Volume on the index declined, showing that there was not strong selling pressure today. It was a quiet session overall but it did have a bit of a negative bias. The higher volume did produce a new distribution day and the count on the COMPQ is getting high. The charts of the Nasd averages are still looking good while the charts of the New York averages don’t look as good. After the close NFLX put out a disappointing earnings report and the stock is getting hit hard in afterhours trading. Other big cap tech stocks are selling off in tandem, so there should be a negative open tomorrow in at least the Nasd averages. How the market trades after that will tell us a lot. If the market can regain the likely early losses and close strong it will be encouraging. Jerry